During the Florida 8A state championship game, Miami Southridge was losing to Dr. Phillips (Orlando) until a five-star talent made one of the most memorable plays ever in a title game.
Mark Pope raced down the sideline and scored a 72-yard touchdown and his name has been forever immortalized since then.
The elite wide receiver signed with the Miami Hurricanes in the highly-heralded #Storm18 class under former Head Coach Mark Richt. Pope committed to the hometown team on March 27th of the 2017 calendar year and stayed locked in with the Canes until signing day of 2018.
There were lofty expectations for Pope, as a High-School U.S Army All-American and a 7-on-7 superstar playing for Florida Fire. After a freshman season where the receiver did not see much action, Hurricane fans questioned when the former standout receiver would get his opportunity.
That moment came during Pope’s sophomore year, cracking the two-deep rotation while tallying 18 receptions for 266 yards and two touchdowns. Pope had a knack for creating separation, but had well-documented troubles tracking the ball and reeling it in for receptions.
Hurricanes' fans hoped it was only due to the receiver being an underclassman at the time. The woes of his dropped passes continued well into his junior season despite making Miami’s starting lineup.
Pope posted a junior season with 11 starts, racking up 33 receptions for 403 yards and two touchdowns. His season however came with much criticism. Fans started to question why the receiver continued to play so much considering how many plays were left on the field. Miami’s bowl loss to Louisiana Tech and Pope’s lackluster performance within that game did not help his case either.
Was it the change of head coaches? Multiple changes of wide receiver coaches?
Pope had two different head coaches and three different wide receiver coaches throughout his career at Miami. The phrase that will always ring in the mind of some Canes fans as a what-if scenario: “if only Pope could just put it all together.”
With some luck on his side, Pope was granted two more years of eligibility after the 2020 covid season. He hoped to retain his starting wide receiver job as that was not the case. Two young and rising sophomores in both Key’Shawn Smith and Xavier Restrepo climbed over Pope on the depth chart before the 2021 season.
Miami had help via the transfer portal in star wide receiver Charleston Rambo and returning fifth-year veteran receiver Mike Harley Jr. Coupled between those two scenarios, Miami signed three blue-chip wide receivers in the 2021 class with Romello Brinson, Jacolby George, and Brashard Smith. The writing was on the wall for Pope.
Pope tried his luck at the 2021 season with the Hurricanes and did not see the field much. He attempted a short-lived move to cornerback before entering the transfer portal on October 18th of 2021. After searching for a new home, Pope announced his intent to transfer to Jackson State on December 17th.
The story does not end there, Pope re-entered the transfer portal about a week before the 2022 season started. Leaving many Hurricanes fans wondering what happened.
A source has revealed to CanesCounty that Pope never enrolled at Jackson State University and was still taking classes at the University of Miami.
The saga continues for the former five-star to find his new home. While his playing days at Miami are over, Pope still has aspirations to re-claim why he was once so highly touted and recruited by the likes of college football programs in Alabama, Florida, and others.
